Kevwar said:
Kevwar said:
I played 0.91 before this version and I could customize, but propably you can customize the gear in 0.93, too. Perhaps in the Changelog smth. like that is mentioned. The best "armor" you could give them there was a +22 leather armor
Personally I reeeally like the concept of the glass cannon Unsullied. They seem to be able to defeat knights when both are on foot, but you really have to care about their positioning and eventually distract the enemy's archers, e.g. with cavalry.
How come you could only give them +22 armor? They got enough strenght for the +60 thing I think. Oh and about this distracting thing: how exactly would you do it? I mean I can just give commands to the cavalry to charge but they usually just run into spears and other cavalry. Also, can you tell me what each of these do: "Take the field" "Charge the enemy"(I suppose that's the normal battle mode) "Lead your troops into assault" . What's the difference between all these? Fights seem rather hard in this mode, but I think it's mainly because I have no idea how to micromanage men in battles in Mount and Blade, I usually just charge them in. Any tips for me?
Well, the thing is that Unsullied are no noble knights but slaves. They have very basic weapons (as in "A Song of Ice and Fire" and the HBO series), so their strenght is their own. They're outstanding soldiers, yes, but they're not nobles but raised killing machines. At the end of the day the slave owners don't care if they die as long as they got their profit. And providing each slave with an expensive armor isn't worth the investment.
A short overview of battle tactics:
Generally speaking it really depends on the army you're facing. I'm speaking of those I've experienced so far:
Spear infantry along the whole infantry tier assisted by archers (Westerland: Billmen and Longbowmen; the Reach: Pikemen and Crossbowmen; Lorath: Glaivemen and Archers )
Cavalry is still viable, but only heavy one (at least men-at-arms or lancers) and also only if you catch the enemy out of formation, you outnumber them or they're already engaged (you flank them).
The big disadvantage spear troops have are their lack of shields. It makes them an easy target for your archers, so you might consider bringing good archers like Dragonstone or Stormland Longbowmen. Positioning those on a hill gives them a wider range, lets them shoot over troops and makes them less susceptible against enemy attacks since cavalry e.g. can't charge uphill.
Infantry with shields alongside Archers with heavy cavalry support (Stormlands, Dragonstone, TheNewFaction)
A pretty well-rounded package, archers do very often very little because they fire at the enemy's shields and get overrun by their cavalry. I've found it most effective to just overrun them with a lot of heavy cavalry. They have some Spearmen/Glaivemen, but only some at specific troop tiers, so it's mostly negligible. The main trick is to spread out your heavy cavalry as far as possible over their whole front and then charge before the enemy does so. I've found it most important to lay a light emphasis on your left flank since the enemy's force is always strongest there (Western lords also always have their own heavy cavalry there while having Levies on your far right).
Only Archers/Crossbowmen (so far only experienced from Braavos)
A very annoying style that goes along with the AI always camping at their starting position.
A charge with heavy Cavalry along the whole front would probably be the best thing here. I've had success with Unsullied and few heavy cavalry, too. Important is to let your infantry keep formation as long as possible while either distracting them with your cavalry or just staying behind hills as long as possible. Archers on my own work, too, but most often result in heavy casualties (though archers are generally speaking good against crossbowmen since they reload faster).
Mounted Archers and (heavy) cavalry (Dothraki, Raiders with a lot of Freelancers/Raiders Horsemen)
The classic Khergit Khanate style you propably know: The enemy relies on a heavy charge before you can really arrange your troops. Since especially the mounted archers can be really annoying I've had most success with a lot of cavalry of my own to hunt down the enemy. The important thing is to form your cavalry in a line as soon as the battle starts, possibly get in a high ground position and then charge the enemy, resulting in you getting the better edge because you get a concave with your cavalry (getting more charge kills) and because the AI is stupid enough to let its horse archers stay in this flock so they get butchered by your cavalry.
Another tactic is getting a lot of Spearmen (with shields) like the classic Rhodoks alongside a good number of archers/crossbowmen. It's important to buffer the enemy cavalry's charge at the start with your spearmen so they can't get through to your archers. Personally I haven't tried this tactic very often, I imagine it gets kinda difficult to hunt down all these mounted archers, perhaps a small cavalry contingent of your own which you keep back until the biggest slaughter has passed.
About the unit control:
In general you pretty much want a line of infantry and behind thema line of archers. When your cavalry outnumbers the enemy's, you probably want them on your left to face the enemy's cavalry, otherwise you really should have some spearmen. If you have cavalry archers you want them at your right flank. They shoot at their right side, also they don't have to fear enemy cavalry on that side.
You control your units with the number pad (1=infantry, 2=archers (+crossbowmen), 3=cavalry; I have cavalry archers on 4 and companions that suck at fighting at 5 so I can put them away from the fight because Surgery is one of the most important skills imo).
When you click a number, it shows the F1-F9 symbols you can order your troops with.
The propably most important command is F1-F1 since it orders your troops where you want them. Note that when you hold the second F1 down it creates a flag you can put anywhere in sight by releasing the F1 key and the selected unit will go there. This is really important because you don't have to be at the position you want your troops to be!
F1-F3 lets your units charge. While this is really important for infantry and cavalry (with archers you more want a better position) when you charge too quickly your soldiers loose formation and very often charge in a row rather than a line resulting in them getting butchered one at a time once they reach the enemy infantry line. Order you infantry/cavalry with the F1-F1 flag around 10-20m away from the enemy and let them charge to get a full impact charge upon the enemy line.
You can also lead a cavalry charge by yourself. This can be very useful since you can maneuver your cavalry very well with the F1-F2 ("follow me") commando: You cavalry now simply follows you in a line. When you pass the enemy on a flank and ride along their back your cavalry lines up perfectly and you can hit F1-F3 ("charge") to hit the enemy from behind once he's engaged at the front.
Very often I find it also very important to let your infantry and cavalry stand closer (F2-F4, works multiple times), otherwise single units from your side might find themselves facing multiple enemies at once. This is probably most important to adjust your line on the enemy's, but also lets you create a pressure point on the enemy's line (most often on your left side since that's where the enemy's elite troops are).
When you go for a full-frontal cavalry attack (e.g. against Braavos' archer army) look that your cavalry is spread over the entire enemy line. First let them run ~20m in front of the enemy, then order "charge", otherwise the cavalry clumps up very often and you don't get the best possible charge.
The classic tactic on a wide field is to position your archers on a possible elevation and line your infantry alongside the enemy and charge. When you have a heavy cavalry contingent you can either fight the enemy's elite troops on the left flank or let them go around and charge in from behind, at best just after your infantry engaged from the front.
On tight maps where outflanking with cavalry is not possible due to collision (trees etc.) it's very often really effective to weaken the enemy with a frontal cavalry charge, then close in with your infantry behind when the enemy line is disorganized. With this tactic timing is everything since your heavy cavalry very often finds itself outnumbered after the initial charge. In order to get all your cavalry to close in at the same time it's important that it doesn't get stuck in your own standing infantry, so you have to have your infantry on the run when your cavalry comes from behind and passes them (when the infantry is about 20-30m away from closing in at the enemy line)
Not that this mod adds "troop formation". I only use two modes there:
"shield wall" for infantry (you have to position you infantry again after the initial command since it just screws around afterwards):
Really good against Dothraki (be quick!) or if you have to defend a choke point (e.g. in a court yard).
"form wedge" for cavalry (you have to reorder their position just as above):
Sometimes you don't have enough room for your cavalry to maneuver. This command lets you strike weak point, but also gets your cavalry through a tight spot behind the enemy for an afterward brutal charge in their back.
You can btw choose where to engage your enemy: Before any engagements have happend you can "retreat" with the TAB-key and "charge the enemy" again, this time on a different map. This doesn't cost you any moral or troop losses.
Last but not least a siege tactic I have the feeling very few people actually realize exists:
When you don't fear enemies coming to break your siege, you can simply shoot them out: Just get as many archers as possible and put them at the top of your troop tree. When you now lead your soldiers in the assault just hit 0-F1-F2("Everyone, follow me") to prevent any soldiers from running into a meat grinder and line up your archers in a good position where they can shoot the enemy on the wall. You can form infantry and cavalry at the front, they do a decent job catching arrows with their shields.
Once your archers run out of ammo (they draw their swords and their quivers are empty) just head to the edge of the map until it shows "retreat" and press the F key. This results in a retreat without the AI calculating troop and morale losses like when you just TAB out. Of course only works when you're still alive at the end
This tactic especially works against enemies with no-shield infantry that normally slaughter any infantry that tries to get up the ladders, even Knights and Unsullied.
So... any questions?
